Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris
999 Challenge Category: Young Adult/Children's
Christian ran away from home when he was six. Living with his foster father in the forest for eleven years, Chris doesn't regret it for a minute - he has a happy (if isolated) life with his two dogs and distantly watches Princess Marigold through a telescope from outside his house. But now it's time for him to leave the life he's known and seek his fortune.
Though I enjoyed several aspects of this story, Once Upon a Marigold was clearly written for readers younger than me. The seventeen-year-old protagonists often seemed a bit young in their thoughts and actions and the narrator had a habit of making pronouncements in a way that irritated me. The direction of the plot was clear early on, though it was entertaining to see how it all came together. Edric the troll was a great character, and I enjoyed his merged sayings that seem to almost make sense. A quick, fun read that I would've enjoyed more fifteen years ago. 4 stars.
Cross-posted at the 999 Challenge.
2 comments:
I liked this writer quite a bit, but my daughter and I disagree on which is better. She likes this one, but I like Love Among the Walnuts more.
Oh, I'll have to try that one then. I find that some of the YA and children's books that I like now are different from the ones I would have enjoyed as a child or teen. Even though I enjoyed it overall, I couldn't lose myself in the story the way I could've ten or fifteen years ago.
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